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In an instant, the blood-soaked battlefield was joined by strangers dressed in wildly different fashions. Anyone would have frozen at the sight.
But Rosen reacted first.
From the corner of his eye, he spotted the shelter nearby, gunfire rattling inside like popcorn in a pan.
Saeko's face drained of color. "No—Shizuka and the others are still in there!"
She might have dispatched a Licker with ease earlier, but that was only thanks to the genetic enhancement serum. Against normal humans, even armed police, Lickers were lethal. One mistake in a first encounter could wipe out an entire squad.
The creatures weren't faster than bullets, but they were faster than the people pulling the triggers—and that was enough.
Before anyone else could move, the only man in the group had already vanished.
In a burst of speed, Rosen blinked into the shelter.
The place was a wreck, the stench of blood thick in the air. One Licker lay dead from Rika Minami's sniper round, but two more had slipped past.
Luckily, Shizuka's house had narrow hallways and they'd been on guard. The girls had barricaded themselves in the largest bedroom.
By the time Rosen arrived, the Lickers had nearly ripped the door apart.
Sensing movement, the monsters turned—
Only to be pinned to the wall a second later, heads skewered by glowing spears of light. They twitched for a few seconds, then sagged lifelessly.
Inside the room, the girls from Fujimi Academy trembled.
Rika gripped her rifle with white knuckles, aiming at the doorway. Then, two sharp cracks echoed like nails driven into wood.
Suddenly, silence.
Only steady footsteps approached.
"Saeko?" Rika called nervously.
No answer. Her finger tensed on the trigger.
The ruined doorframe shuddered, then was ripped away by a single human hand. Standing there was a young man, plainly dressed yet impossibly striking, as if the world itself revolved around him.
The girls fell silent without thinking. Just looking at him made them forget to breathe.
They'd survived hell, yet now they found themselves staring, dazed.
It was the aura of Rosen's power, his connection to the Tree of Life system. He was the sun, and everyone else mere planets orbiting in his gravity.
"Eh? He looks... kinda like a savior," the lone blonde in the group whispered softly, tilting her head.
Rosen glanced around. The number of survivors surprised him. Not only were the main girls here, but characters who shouldn't have appeared until much later—Mikako, Yuriko Takagi, Asami Nakaoka... even the little dog.
The pup, who'd been barking furiously at the Lickers earlier, now whimpered toward Rosen.
Notably absent, however, were Takashi Komuro and the gun nut, Hirano.
All female survivors? Now that was interesting.
"Who... are you?" Rika asked, lowering her gun but not relaxing. Trained instincts told her not to trust strangers. And Saeko wasn't with him.
"We're passing-through Kamen Riders. Don't forget it!"
The answer came not from Rosen but from Gabriel—the blonde "angel," still in her school uniform. Online, she was a shut-in gamer; in person, she looked neat and radiant, more approachable than anyone else.
The response was absurd, yet the girls actually relaxed at the sight of her.
"We're with Umbrella Corporation. We're here to capture you, so surrender quietly."
This time it was Frieren, face calm as ever.
"What the hell, Frieren?! Don't joke about that, you're scaring them," Fubuki sighed, rubbing her temple.
"Emmm... sorry, just kidding," Frieren said, narrowing her eyes into cat-like slits, lips curling with mischief.
That's not funny at all, the girls thought collectively.
Relief came when Saeko finally appeared, sheathing her blade.
"They're friends. You don't need to worry."
Her gaze flicked to the Lickers pinned against the wall, drawing everyone else's attention back to Rosen.
After all, he had been the first one inside.
"..."
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